Post your Progress Thread

[sullivan_riyria]

This isn't about word-count progress, or completion progress, but a professional goal that I've finally attained. I made more money off my writing last month than I make at my day job. I never thought this would be possible (or at least, happen to me). It may never happen again, so I'm soaking up the feeling. It's crazy to see that one could, in theory at least, make a real living at this.

Very nice!! Congratulations.

[hughhowey]

Finished the book...but it's too light for my tastes. I'll "fatten it up" during re-write but at the present time it came out to 76,500 words.

Congrats! Have fun with the revisions. I enjoy that so much more than the actual writing.

And what are you aiming for with your word count? Closer to 100K? Is this for print/ebook/both? I ask, because I've had a lot more success with my shorter stuff. Not sure if that has anything to do with reader attention span, subject matter, or pure coincidence.

[oborseth]

103,948 words of "Legends of Nuvia: The soul of Kaesh". I've heard varying opinions on what length a first time author should shoot for. I've seen 120,000 as the short side of epic fantasy whether you are a new author or not. A follower on twitter says 100,000 is the max for first time fantasy authors. Not sure if I should wrap it up or keep going

[hughhowey]

103,948 words of "Legends of Nuvia: The soul of Kaesh". I've heard varying opinions on what length a first time author should shoot for. I've seen 120,000 as the short side of epic fantasy whether you are a new author or not. A follower on twitter says 100,000 is the max for first time fantasy authors. Not sure if I should wrap it up or keep going

I'd say wrap it up. I agree with your follower; 100,000 is a good cut-off for first time authors. Agents get squeamish when they see a query letter espousing the greatness of a 150,000 word epic from someone they've never heard of.

Think of it this way: You've got all the sequels in the world to finish your tale!

[oborseth]

Think of it this way: You've got all the sequels in the world to finish your tale!

Wise words. It is sounding like I need to wrap her up and maybe even whittle it down a bit.

[sullivan_riyria]

103,948 words of "Legends of Nuvia: The soul of Kaesh". I've heard varying opinions on what length a first time author should shoot for. I've seen 120,000 as the short side of epic fantasy whether you are a new author or not. A follower on twitter says 100,000 is the max for first time fantasy authors. Not sure if I should wrap it up or keep going

I would recommend "wrapping up." All my books (except the last) are 90,000 - 105,000 which is a nice length. You'll make more money with two 100,000 word novels then 1 200,000 word novel.

[sullivan_riyria]

Finished my WIP and started another book -- at 4,600 words presently. The WIP I finsihed previously will need to grow by about 10,000 or 15,000 words from where it is now but the basics are done.

[Elaine]

Hi. I'm rather new to these forums. Anyway, I have a twitter novel that's in the works. My plan is to feed it through twitter, create a character blog and fb and get it published in a paper and digital completed versions. The character will also have her own YouTube channel.

I am looking for a graphic artist, however. Any ideas?

@inkdipped

[hughhowey]

Finished my WIP and started another book -- at 4,600 words presently. The WIP I finsihed previously will need to grow by about 10,000 or 15,000 words from where it is now but the basics are done.

Congrats! Every completed book deserves a pat on the back. So here's me thumping yours!

[oborseth]

Hi. I'm rather new to these forums. Anyway, I have a twitter novel that's in the works. My plan is to feed it through twitter, create a character blog and fb and get it published in a paper and digital completed versions. The character will also have her own YouTube channel.

I am looking for a graphic artist, however. Any ideas?

@inkdipped

I used Bramasta Aji for my book cover. He's good and very affordable. Depending on whether or not that is the style you are going for, he might be an option.

No idea what a Twitter Novel is but good luck

[hughhowey]

Wow. I dig that artwork.

And I think a Twitter novel is one you write 140 characters (or less) at a time. Some top-selling Japanese fiction (some made into movies) were written 100% via text-messaging. A few years ago, 4 of the 10 top-selling books in Japan were written like this, mostly by high school kids. Pretty bizarre when you think about it.

[Elaine]

I used Bramasta Aji for my book cover. He's good and very affordable. Depending on whether or not that is the style you are going for, he might be an option.

No idea what a Twitter Novel is but good luck

Wow, this artist is great. Thank you for the info.

[MrBF1V3]

It's not terribly surprising, but my epublisher's website is gone-disappeared. I suspect they went under, but I sent an e-mail to see if they will confirm.

I'll give them a few days, and if I hear nothing I will have to see about gaining control of my book on smashwords. (The good side of that is I can get the story edited and update the file.)

Sigh.

On the better side, I hope to self publish a collection of short stories on smashwords by the end of the month. I've heard back from one editor and am waiting to hear from the second. (Okay, maybe a bit paranoid about it, but I hate finding stupid typos after publication.) Then it's time to cross my fingers and market like crazy. (There will be more information on my username page-I will not spam my friends.)

Also, I wrote the coolest short story the other day. It may not be my best work, but it was nice to step out of editing mode for a while.

B5

[PeteMC]

Ah crap, sorry to hear that mate. Oh well, onwards and upwards

I haven't forgotten that beta read I'm supposed to be doing for you by the way, Real Life has just been getting in the way a bit (a lot) recently. I'll get on it soon, I promise!

[virangelus]

It's not terribly surprising, but my epublisher's website is gone-disappeared. I suspect they went under, but I sent an e-mail to see if they will confirm.

I'll give them a few days, and if I hear nothing I will have to see about gaining control of my book on smashwords. (The good side of that is I can get the story edited and update the file.)

Sigh.

On the better side, I hope to self publish a collection of short stories on smashwords by the end of the month. I've heard back from one editor and am waiting to hear from the second. (Okay, maybe a bit paranoid about it, but I hate finding stupid typos after publication.) Then it's time to cross my fingers and market like crazy. (There will be more information on my username page-I will not spam my friends.)

Also, I wrote the coolest short story the other day. It may not be my best work, but it was nice to step out of editing mode for a while.

B5

Well, I'll tell you what Mr, at least you've gotten as far as finishing something. I'm still a wispy dreamer in that department. Good luck with the marketing department. I've got a SMB Marketing book. Let me know if you've got a question about a particular subject and I'll paraphrase